About

Rawbots is a robot crafting sandbox game where you can play with amazing robots, designed, built and programmed by you. A sophisticated robotics framework designed from the ground up to be a fun immersive experience accessible to the modern gamer.

The Rawbots universe has a unique set of matter, energy and physics laws. These laws are engineered to serve fun emergent gameplay that is different every time you play. Everything you would expect from a sandbox game and more. We are taking this to the next level. Gameplay that truly emerges beyond imagination and defined contextually by the type of robots you build.

Like Lego Mindstorms, simple building blocks allow the player to create all kinds of bots. Motors, sensors, tools and structural body parts seamlessly connect with one another. Each and every bot part hides a world of options ready to be discovered. Building blocks are designed to be combined in ways even the developers didn't think about.

Everything programmable with an intuitive and streamlined graph system that brings the power of visual programming into the hands of creative minds. From geeks, to tinkerers, to grinders, there is a path to creation for everyone.

For those of you who know what it means, our crafting system is Turing Complete. The logic is developed with Mono, C# and F#, using functional programming patterns. Just a shout-out for all the hardworking devs that made these technologies possible.

A quick video with the very basics of crafting:

The Multiverse

Rawbots is a multiverse game, where each player is the master of his own universe (Universe Master), which he can choose to abandon, or evolve. Each Universe has a set of default rules that can be re-programmed, like gravity, day/night cycles, planets atmosphere and landscape.

Each Universe has a default contract that every visitor needs to voluntarily accept before visiting. Contracts are used by Universe Masters to provide the framework of their Universe. Contracts can contain anything from bartering rules, to fighting, to peacemaking. Engineers that only wish to design and build bots in cooperation with others, without the threat of outsiders, can do so with contracts. Robot fighting competitions, board games, rpg campaigns and other game mechanics can also be enforced by contracts.

A few default contracts will be included to help players hit the ground running. But Universe Masters will have full power to re-imagine their own society.

Teslight Corp is the creator and controller of multiverse transportation technology.

A Universe has planets and each planet can have water, caverns, continents and floating islands. You can build bots that can go underwater, drive over land, hover and travel between planets.

Crafting

Robot crafting is at the center of the experience. Every experience thereafter is pure emergence. We will provide the foundations and building blocks that will allow infinite possibilities. FPS, CTF, RTS and other gameplay styles will all be possible, through creative use of building blocks, visual programming and general game rules.

The crafting system is composed of a physical component (bot parts) and a virtual component (programming operants). A signal processing system connects and powers everything. The design of the crafting system is based on sophisticated category theory and reductionism principals. This philosophy allows us to focus on developing simple atomic building blocks that can be combined in ways we could never imagine, creating genuine beautiful complexity, and true emergence that is bigger than the sum of its parts.

Economy

The economy system is fundamentally bartering. However, all the tools will be provided for Universe Masters to build their own exchange and banking systems. If a currency evolves in a Universe, it will be out of pure emergence (or contractual). Players can choose to exchange blueprints, bot parts, services or data, where data can be a custom currency.

Goals

Rawbots, in the sandbox context, has no specific goals. It is the true definition of a sandbox game. However, Universe Masters will be creating great experiences for others to enjoy. We don’t know what those experiences might be, and that is exactly how we want it.

Blueprint Certificate

Blueprints are digitally signed certificates that link bot designs with their designers and programmers. The certificates will also contain the entire history of a bot, derivative designs and stats. Blueprints will be the main way to spawn and share your creations.

Body Parts

You don't need body parts to make awesome robots, you need body parts to make them look cool. Maybe if NASA made their rovers look cooler they would still have a budget. Body parts can be custom colored and many have additional features like LEDs, that can be discovered through visual programming. Body parts are all about making a statement.

We are not happy with the current state of robot games, most are just regular games wrapped in metal sheets. Only a handful of games tried to bring true fun and immersive robot crafting, with several levels of success. It's on the shoulders of these games that we now stand and present you Rawbots.

A true sandbox game does not bode well with big corporations and publishers. The very nature of a sandbox game is about empowering a player to explore and exploit, at their own pace, every aspect of the core crafting mechanics. Metric-based games cannot afford to set their players loose, they are scared of players discovering the shallowness of their offers. A true multiplayer sandbox game can only be accomplished with a Kickstarter, and a game that is not afraid of letting go.

We want Rawbots to be a new robotics landscape, an entire multiplayer multiverse for building, fighting and exploring together. We want to bring the awe of discovery back to gaming.

Supported Platforms

UPDATE: Wii are going U !!

And of course, Windows, Linux and Mac... so far.

Split-screen and Oculus Rift VR Headset are two things that can get done in one good push. Good old real social gaming with split-screen like the days when you and your friends played in the same room, or compose a split-screen with different bot cameras. And get a first person view of any bot camera with your Oculus VR Headset. Do we really have to explain how cool this is?

Rawbots Builder is an optimized streamline version of the game, focused on building and programming bots. It can also double as a remote control for a full game session being played on a desktop. This is the tool for the zen-like feel of building bots from your mobile device or using your device as a fullscreen input panel to control a sophisticated bot or army. In the case of the OUYA port, you just get an awesome robot crafting tool. When working offline, every creation is readily available to be used in Rawbots as soon as you login.

If you are an engineer or a skilled artist, you can develop high quality and/or experimental features with the Mod Tools and Development Kit. Create new bot and body parts, new operants and tools. Hardcore tinkerers and developers can build artificial intelligence, social science and physics experiments on top of the Rawbots architecture, taking advantage of 1000s of man hours of polish and design. The tools will allow you to import art assets, plugin your .Net DLL and connect to the REST service.

This will add to your pledge rewards:

Access to Rawbots Dev Center for 1 user (Pledge $20 or more).

All of Rawbots on your PS4, ‘nough said.

This will add to your pledge rewards:

Activation of Rawbots for PS4 (Pledge $20 or more).

Where do we start with 3D printing support? For all your action figure needs? For the Lego-feel? Scale model painting? We got you covered. With the 3D support stretch goal, Rawbots will support printing robot blueprints. The printed objects will be everything you need to manually reconstruct your bot and connect the pieces. Depending on what materials you choose, you can then hand paint your model. Just imagine designing, building and printing your own robot toys. Initially we will support printing with the most affordable 3D printer in existence at the time of delivery, and will slowly add support for more 3D printers.

Risks and challenges

The games industry is in the middle of big shift from the casual "pick n play" games to games with much deeper and meaningful gameplay, and we are leading this effort with Rawbots. While we're not trying to scare off the casual player, we are currently pushing a hardcore robotics gameplay experience that demands critical thinking, creativity, time and exploration in order to enjoy. We need to find the right mix and blend of gameplay ingredients that will help make our game easy to get into, without alienating or patronizing the players we are targeting.

Rawbots strives to first be a really fun game, but it also has strong educational value. We've used violence in our videos mainly to target the hardcore players, however this could alienate teachers, students and parents, and other groups that could otherwise immensely benefit from our game. In our effort to promote and position Rawbots, we need to help the educational community see through the marketing attempts and discover the educational value of Rawbots. Many users may just be interested in the cooperative building and programming of bots and have no interest in the social features we provide. We need to allow players (and their community) to separate themselves from the gaming network and be able enjoy all the features the stand-alone game provides.

Rawbots has a build in the hands of thousands of players, that are everyday testing the limits of our game. This build is proof of concept and proof that we have what it takes to build this great game. But game development is a huge undertaking, and it comes with all the regular risks of any software development project. It is important for the team to deliver on time, and on budget, to work hard, work smart and work together. The leads of this team have shipped more than 20 titles combined, and have experience working with key industry leaders like LucasArts, EA and Zynga.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $75 or more
About $75

THE EXECUTIVE

Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots, DRM-free. Access to online multiplayer network for 1 user. Steam activation key when available. Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots pre-alpha and VIP member access to Rawbots.net as soon as Kickstarter ends. Digital Collector's Book in PDF, with developer's diaries, concept art, detailed game manual, strategy guide and robot blueprints. Digital downloadable soundtrack collection. An executive rendering shader that you can turn on that will make all your bots stand out.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $100 or more
About $100

FOUNDER

Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots, DRM-free. Access to online multiplayer network for 1 user. Steam activation key when available. Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots pre-alpha and VIP member access to Rawbots.net as soon as Kickstarter ends. Digital Collector's Book in PDF, with developer's diaries, concept art, detailed game manual, strategy guide and robot blueprints. Digital downloadable soundtrack collection. An executive rendering shader that you can turn on that will make all your bots stand out. A limited edition body part that will identify you as a Rawbots founder and your name in Special Thanks game credits.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $4,000 or more
About $4,000

DESIGNER

Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots, DRM-free. Access to online multiplayer network for 5 users. Steam activation key when available. Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots pre-alpha and 5 VIP member access to Rawbots.net as soon as Kickstarter ends. Digital Collector's Book in PDF, with developer's diaries, concept art, detailed game manual, strategy guide and robot blueprints. Digital downloadable soundtrack collection. An executive rendering shader that you can turn on that will make all your bots stand out. A limited edition body part that will identify you as a Rawbots founder and your name in Special Thanks game credits. A body part designed by you that will carry your brand and be in the final game.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10,000
About $10,000

ENGINEER

Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots, DRM-free. Access to online multiplayer network for 10 users. Steam activation key when available. Digital downloadable copy of Rawbots pre-alpha and 10 VIP member access to Rawbots.net as soon as Kickstarter ends. Digital Collector's Book in PDF, with developer's diaries, concept art, detailed game manual, strategy guide and robot blueprints. Digital downloadable soundtrack collection. An executive rendering shader that you can turn on that will make all your bots stand out. A limited edition body part that will identify you as a Rawbots founder and your name in Special Thanks game credits. A body part designed by you that will carry your brand and be in the final game. A bot part designed by you that will carry your brand and be in the final game.